“Welcome to Fight Club.”[FN1] Like the fighters in Fight Club, the Members Exchange (MEMX), a new fighter has entered the ring of nationally recognized securities exchanges fighting for volume. MEMX is a new exchange registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that is backed by major Wall Street firms that will compete with a number of securities exchanges including, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. MEMX Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Kellner said in a statement, “We are excited to earn SEC approval in this challenging environment and appreciate the [SEC]’s thoughtful and timely review of our application.”[FN2]

MEMX is an “innovative and customer-centric company, focused on creating and promoting a fair, transparent, and efficient market experience for all investors.”[FN3] MEMX will enter the exchange fight club to compete with 13 other U.S. securities exchanges. MEMX founders include Bank of America Corp, Citadel Securities, Charles Schwab Corp., E*Trade Financial Corp., Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, Jane Street Capital, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, TD Ameritrade Holdings Corp., UBS, and Virtu Financial. MEMX expects to launch later this year.

[FN1] Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club the novel; see also David Fincher and Jim Uhls, Fight Club the movie.

[FN2] Members Exchange Receives SEC Approval to Operate U.S. Securities Exchange (May 5, 2020), available at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200505005632/en/Members-Exchange-Receives-SEC-Approval-Operate-U.S. A copy of the MEMX application filed with the SEC is available at: https://www.sec.gov/rules/other/2019/memx/memx-form-1.htm.

[FN3] Id